


A Perfect Fit

by watevriwant



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, dance au, other characters will be joining in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-02-16 18:46:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18697165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watevriwant/pseuds/watevriwant
Summary: Natasha joins the New York City Ballet. This is the story of how meeting her maker changed both their lives.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hi, I’m Sharon,” said a rather, in Natasha’s opinion, overly chipper blonde woman.

 

“Natasha,” was her clipped reply as she went back to her pre class stretches. It was too early in the morning for conversation and all she wanted was for morning class to begin so that she could loosen the muscles left stiff from the exhausting journey to New York. Thankfully just as it was beginning to look like the woman might not take a hint a voice called them to the barre and class began.

 

After nearly 24 hours of traveling, being on the barre felt amazing as the muscles in her legs warmed and flexed, her mind focused entirely on the motions of her body. Many of her fellow dancers were not exactly keen on morning class, especially during off season, even though they knew just how necessary it was to keep their technique and form improving. Natasha did not see it the same way, to her morning class was a way of relaxing and allowing herself to prepare for the day ahead of her.

 

A hour and a half later and class had drawn to a close and many of the others were partnering off to stretch before breaking for a couple of hours until afternoon class and rehearsals. The same blonde, Shannon, Natasha thought had the same cheery smile on her face as she came over to her once again.

 

“Hello again, Natasha. Care for some help?”

 

Unable to deny that having someone help with her legs and back sounded like heaven Natasha nodded. The blonde, perhaps her name was Sasha, seemed to finally understand that Natasha had a preference for silence as they began working each other over.

 

Once they had finished Natasha thanked her and went to find her bag, eager to layer on her sweats and leg warmers when she was stopped by the woman who had been leading the class.

 

“Romanov.”

 

“Yes, ma’am?”

 

“How was your first class?”

 

“Excellent, ma’am.”

 

“Good. You did well but your shoes don’t seem quite like they fit you.”

 

“Um, well I’ve got a few pairs with me from my last season at school. As a student I didn’t really have the means to get custom shoes.”

 

“Well, now you are a professional, Miss Romanoff” turning from Natasha the woman called for someone named Carter. The friendly blonde woman perked up and came over to the woman leading the class.

 

“What can I do for you, May?”

 

“Take Romanov down to the shoe room.”

 

“Sure thing,” the blonde turned to smile at Natasha, “grab your stuff.You’re gonna love Coulson.”

 

……….

 

Natasha took in the massive room, huge open cupboards arranged like bookshelves in a library with dozens of pairs of shoes in each opening. At the center of it all sat a balding man behind an impeccable desk.

 

“Ah, Sharon, its good to see you.”

 

‘Thats it,’ Natasha thought, ‘Sharon.'

 

“Hi, Coulson. I’ve brought you a new dancer, meet Natasha.”

 

“Hello Natasha, a pleasure to meet you,” greeted Coulson. “What can I do for you?”

 

“My shoes aren’t right.”

 

“Okay, well, lets start by sizing you and pulling some old pairs from other dancers around your size.” With that he lead her to a chair measuring her and then going to a large binder pulled from a desk drawer. He flipped through it jotting down something on a pad before disappearing into the shelves.

 

“So, where are you from?”

 

“Russia.”

 

“Alright,” said Sharon, “how long have you been in the states?”

 

“My plane landed yesterday evening.”

 

“Really? Thats… surprising. Your English is very good.”

 

“Several of the instructors were from the United States so many of us learned English.”

 

“Okay…” Sharon let out a sigh of relief as Coulson returned from the maze carrying a tower of shoe boxes. “Hey Coulson! What do you have for us?”

 

….

 

Half an hour later and Natasha had more pairs of shoes than she ever wanted to deal with at any one time and strict instructions to try a new pair for every class and rehearsal until she found the right ones. This was going to be a long week.


	2. Chapter 2

“Seriously, Natasha? Its been over a week, you must have gone through the entire stack.”

“I did. I went and got more from Coulson two days ago.” Natasha was beyond frustrated. Even if Sharon was growing on her, and she had to admit, once she got past the layer of unreasonably chipper, she seemed like a competent dancer and a good person to have as a friend. Plus her love of pizza rivaled Natasha’s own.

“And none of them worked?”

“Not one.”

“You know, I know someone that might have a solution to your problem.”

“Really? Because if I have to sick my feet in another random girls shoes they might kill me.”

“Give me a week. Just, I don’t know, wear your crappy student shoes for a few days.”  
….  
After class that morning Sharon went down to see Coulson a plan already forming in her head. 

“Miss Carter, how can I help you today? Don’t tell me you’re looking for a new maker too.”

“You know I would never, Aunt Peggy would kill me. No, I came down here to help you.” At that Coulson rated an eyebrow. “Aunt Peggy just finishing apprenticing a new maker and I think that she might be perfect for Natasha.”

“Really?”

“Yep, you know how quickly it goes when Peggy has a spot open for a new dancer, especially with the royal ballet girls in the mix now. Natasha liked Pepper’s best so far and I think Maria is going to fill up quickly once she sends out her samples in a few months.”

“Its practically mayhem when Peggy has a spot open, I swear half the girls in the company come down here to try and get a sample pair.”

“I know, she’s the only maker I know of who has an application process,” said Sharon with a shake of her head.  
….  
It was late in the evening on a Friday when Sharon made it out to her aunts’ house. 

“Hey, Aunt Peggy, is Maria in?” Asked Sharon as she walked over to the couch where Peggy was currently holding a mug of tea and reading a murder mystery novel. Leaning down, Sharon gave her aunt a hug before taking a seat next to her. 

“Yes, she’s in the studio tinkering with the toe of a shoe I think, said something about it having the wrong line,” answered Peggy still focused on her book. 

“Perfect. There is this new dancer and I think her and Maria might be a perfect fit.” That grabbed Peggy’s attention and she placed her book on the table in front of her, turning to listen to Sharon. “The closest we’ve gotten was one of your pairs and I know you’re full up on dancers right now. Maria just needs to iron out the kinks on her sample pairs and she’ll be ready to start taking dancers. Not to mention I think Coulson might have finally met his match, she’s been though nearly two dozen makers shoes in the last week alone. So, what do you say Aunt Peggy?”

Pondering the suggestion for a moment Peggy thought about her niece out in the studio working on what must have been her 20th attempt at making them just perfect. She’d had Angie trying a new, ever so slightly different shoe on every night for the last few weeks as she tried to make sure they had just exactly the right line and the perfect box shape. Everyday saying that there was something just slightly off before going back out to make notes even though both Angie and Peggy had approved completely of every pair saying any dancer would be very happy to wear them. Perhaps giving her a dancer of her own to shoe would help Maria’s endless fussing.

“I think its a wonderful idea sweetheart. Now, why don’t you go see if Angie has anything made up, I’m sure Maria must be starving.” 

Giving her aunt another excited hug Sharon practically bounced out of the room stopping only for a moment when Peggy called “And make sure you tell her they need to be done and dropped off by Monday morning otherwise she’ll spend the next week fussing.”

“Yes, Aunt Peggy!” Yelled back Sharon as she ran off to the kitchen. 

Peggy smirked as she heard her enthusiastically greet Angie and then the sliding glass door to the back where the studio was open and close.   
…..

When Sharon opened the door to the studio the overwhelming scent of glue and canvas and leather filled her nose. Maria had the radio blasting Rock and roll as she stood behind her station pounding the toe of a shoe. Shaking her head Sharon walked over to the radio and turned down the music to where conversation would be possible. 

“Mari-aaa,” she sing songed. 

Maria turned around, shoe still in hand, eyes zeroing in on the tray in Sharons grasp. “Ooo,” Maria cooed dropping her work on the bench and rushing over to grab a sandwich off the tray. 

“I see how it is, I come out here to see you and all you’re interested in is food.”

“Mhm,” Maria nodded, slumping into a chair. “So, what brought you out here?”

Sharon set the platter down and took a seat sandwich in hand. “Well, there’s this new dancer from Russia and her technique is beautiful but she can’t seem to find any shoes that work for her.” 

“Aunt Peg is full up right now.”

“Aunt Peg is not why I came out here. You’ve been working so hard, and Peggy thinks you’re ready. So I was wondering if you would take Natasha on as your first dancer?”


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha sighed into her pillow . Why she had agreed to attend a yoga class on a Sunday at what felt like the crack of dawn? Right, Sharon had promised her brunch. Pushing herself out of bed she grabbed her phone, turning on some music as she changed and started her morning stretches. 

The routine she followed ridged, tho the timing of it had shifted with her move to New York. Every morning she woke up, had a glass of water and stretched for an hour before she did anything else. Back when she was in the academy she had often read for her lessons during that time but now she more often than not she spent that time watching television. Currently she was making her way through Friends. 

Grabbing a small snack and her jacket she headed out.   
….

“Tasha!” Yelled Sharon as she pulled her into a hug. Releasing her, she took Natasha by the arm pulling her over to another red haired woman who smiled at them. “Pepper, this is Natasha the new dancer from Russia.”

The woman held out her hand, “Hello Natasha, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Natasha gently took the other woman hand. “I haven’t seen you at classes.”

“No, you wouldn’t have, I had I minor injury to my knee. Physio said I needed to keep it light. No worries, I’ll be joining back in on Monday, though I heard you purloined my partner for cool down.” The trio entered the small studio, Sharon handing Natasha a spare mat. 

The three of them settled in at the back of the room Sharon and Pepper stretching while Natasha rolled out. 

“So, Natasha, Sharon said you were from Russia.”

“Yes, I moved a couple of weeks ago. It has been a challenging transition to living here in America.”

“And dancing?”  
“The dancing has been difficult. I was lucky, the American instructor allowed me and a number of other students to train with her in a more western style half the day which allowed me to audition with the companies here in the US. Moving into the more western style at all times has been challenging for my body.” 

Just as Pepper was about to ask more questions the instructor turned on music and the class began. 

.....

A hour and a half later and they were all sitting together in a small cafe a few blocks down from the yoga studio.

“So, Natasha… I have news in the shoe department. My Aunt Peggy is a maker, in fact she’s the one who makes Pepper and mine’s shoes. She has an apprentice who is about to start sending samples out and I got Peggy to agree to let you potentially be her first dancer.”

“Peggy has an apprentice? I was just out there a couple of months ago and she didn’t say anything.”

“She’s new,” Sharon said tentatively. Maria’s apprenticeship was rather unusual. Most makers trained for several years under a master before they began taking on dancers. Maria had only formally been training for a few months.

“Well if Peggy trained her I’m sure that you’ll be in good hands.” 

Natasha sipped on her latte as Sharon and Pepper chatted happily. By the time she had finished at Vagnova she had lost nearly every friend she had. Every year girls had been cut from the program and by the end there had only been competition left. This was nice, having friends in the company was something she was unsure she would have but now it seemed inevitable. 

….

Maria glanced at the sheet in front of her for the hundredth time, double checking every measurement the final pair of shoes in her hands. Over the last few days it felt like she had made a dozen pairs but these felt right. Smoothing the pink satin a final time Maria deposited the last of the five pairs requested by Coulson into a canvas bag and tightened the drawstring before packing them into a box. 

Peggy glanced up as Maria came in box in hand.

“Cutting it a bit close aren’t we?”

Maria startled at her aunts voice. “I thought you and Aunt Angie were going out tonight.”

“Well, I thought I should stick around and make sure that that box made it out here before they get picked up in the morning. I was beginning to think that they might not.”

“Sorry I just, I wanted to make sure every thing was perfect you know? She’s my first dancer and I just- I dunno.”

“I know sweetheart. Go get some rest, theres nothing more that you can do tonight.”

Maria walked over and gave Peggy a hug before heading to her room.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into writing in a long time, especially something that isn't sad so it will probably end up fairly short. however the idea has ben rattling around in my head for years so I decided to finally put pen to paper and give it a go.


End file.
